Dimensions of an Intergenerational Relationship Between Medical Students and Mentors-on-Aging

ABSTRACT

An innovative mentoring project in a six-year medical program brought together first-year medical students and residents of a retirement community into intergenerational relationships. Although the project focus was its impact upon students, qualitative analysis of student essays indicated that an unanticipated reciprocal bond formed. The investigators analyzed sets of four essays written by fifty students to identify empirically grounded dimensions of the reciprocal relationship. These dimensions were: affective reciprocity (empathy and intimacy), instrumental reciprocity (mentors' contributions to students and vice versa, along with mutual support), and similarities between students and mentors (attitudes, life events, shared interests). The reciprocal process of making meaning in each of these areas illustrates a constructivist approach. The findings reinforce recent discussions of the need to advance theory and practice so as to reflect a more dynamic notion of intergenerational relationships.

KEYWORDS:

• Reciprocal relationships
• mentors-on-aging
• medical students
• intergenerational relationships

The authors gratefully acknowledge the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Association of American Medical Colleges Geriatrics Curriculum Development Program, which partially supported this research.

Notes

1. Numbers in parentheses refer to the unique identifier assigned to each student's set of essays.